Theme Of Ownership In Frederick Douglass

Ownership refers to one having possession or control over something. It can be in regard to tangible goods, or intangible goods that cannot be seen, such as knowledge. Trying to find a relationship between ownership and a sense of self has stirred the minds of philosophers for centuries. Plato argued that owning objects is detrimental to a person’s character, while Aristotle claimed that the ownership of tangible goods boosted one’s character. Jean-Paul Sartre extended these beliefs to not only tangible goods but to intangible goods, such as the possession of a skill. While the abuse of ownership can be detrimental to oneself and the lives of others, having ownership can establish a sense of self by promoting responsibility and teaching

Frederick Douglass, a formerly enslaved man who became a prominent activist, author, and public speaker, composed a narrative in 1845, in an attempt to educate people about the cruelty of slavery. Douglass was born into slavery, on the Eastern shore of Maryland, when the ownership of slaves was peaking. In his book, he loosely outlined some of the hardships that both slaves and slaveholders experienced. He revealed that he had been taken away from his mother, and sold into slavery at a very young age, just as many others had. When people believe that they have the right to “own” another human, they can abuse their power and completely disregard the lives of others. While, thankfully, slavery has been abolished in the US, we can still see these same principles play out in the dynamics between people who believe they are superior to their counterparts, such as the relationship between a CEO and an employee, or the relationship between a parent and a child. Douglass reported feeling broken in “body, soul, and spirit” after countless days of working hard for his slaveholder. He and his fellow slaves were not provided beds and were rarely given an adequate amount of food. He witnessed the cruelty directed towards those who were enslaved, an example being slaves who got whipped and cut when they didn’t comply with a small request. At this point in history, white men believed that they had a right to own people of color and treat them as less than human. This shows that when taken too far, ownership can lead to harm to others, especially when one feels superior over another, just as a slaveholder did to their slaves. Modern ownership can foster this same superiority dynamic, leading to cruel acts toward those looked down upon and seen as “lesser than” others. Not only was slaveholding damaging to slaves but according